The Walking Dead: Tell It to the Frogs

One of the best things about The Walking Dead is its sincere attempt to realistically show how people would react to apocalyptic zombie scenarios. This is very important to know, because when the real Zombie Apocalypse comes, you’ll need to have an inkling as to what to expect. In that sense, you can think of The Walking Dead as a training manual. And you should.

Still, there are still some things in this show that don’t ring true. For example, why do everyone’s clothes look so dang clean? We get the answer to this particular mystery in this episode, and it’s about time. The spotless garments have been driving me nuts.

As this installment opens, we return to the roof of the department store in Atlanta where everyone’s favorite raging racist, Merle Dixon, is handcuffed to a pipe and talking to himself. He’s muttering about being stuck for days in a stockade, about those who done him wrong, about how the experience was "worth every minute of it".

Clearly, Merle’s been here before. He’s a survivor, which probably shouldn’t give you a warm/fuzzy feeling about the future, should he escape this dilemma. Clearly, his anger issues are going to come back to haunt everyone.

Zombies appear at the chained door to the roof, and Merle freaks out as you’d expect. He spies the tools left on the roof by T-Dog in the previous episode and uses his belt to try to pull them towards him. Does he make it? We don’t know yet – it’s time for the opening credits!

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Merle discovers karma.

Now we’ve got Rick and Morales in the truck, driving back to camp. Merle is the topic of discussion. Despite the fact that he’s a Class A jerk and likely to cause everyone harm, neither man feels good about leaving Merle behind. Right away, you can see where this is headed. Guilt is a powerful driver of plot!

Back at camp, Lori, Shane and young Carl are having a pseudo-family moment. Shane’s promising to take Carl frog hunting with plans to eat their little legs. Lori makes the appropriate frogs-are-gross noises. It’s not Ozzie and Harriett or the Huxtables, but in this context, it’ll do.

Suddenly, Glenn arrives in his orange muscle car, which still has its alarm going. Next, the truck carrying the rest of the Atlanta crew pulls in, they all pile out, except for Rick, who’s driving. Since we know that Shane and Lori have been doing the nasty, we know that when Rick appears, it won’t be all lollipops and roses.

And we’re only mildly disappointed. Rick gets out of the truck and walks toward the others. He, Lori, Carl and Shane all spot each other at the same time. Hugs ensue, though Lori has an oh-my-God-now-what-do-I-do look on her face. Shane has a similar expression – clearly, the good times are over – but then he can’t help but smile at the joyous reunion. Awkward . . . !

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A family reunion.

Later that night, everyone’s sitting around the campfire as Rick tells what happened to him. He’s drawing furtive glances from Shane. We also learn from Lori that she’d been told by the hospital that Rick was going to be taken to Atlanta, which she now knows is a zombie stronghold. She clearly thought he was dead, and Rick says, yep, he can completely understand that.

Rick also talks about what happened to Merle, that he was out of control and was left handcuffed on the roof. And now the issue of Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) comes up. He’s off hunting, and when he gets back with his kill, he’s not going to be very happy about his brother’s situation.

Now we’re back in Lori’s tent. She’s putting Carl to sleep, and Rick comes on. This is the big moment! Lori’s going to confess to Rick that she’s been getting frisky with Shane, right? Uh, no.

Rick and Lori snuggle. Lori says she’s "so sorry for everything", but never really says what that "everything" is. Rick presumes she’s talking about her loss of faith. There’s cuddling, talk of family albums, some kissing, and the lights go out. Lori gives herself over to Rick and meanwhile . . .

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Snugglebunnies.

We get an artsy shot of Shane, who’s got guard duty. He’s atop the RV, cradling a shotgun, and staring at Lori’s tent. Lightning flashes in the sky above him. Shane may as well have the words "FORESHADOWING" tattooed on his forehead but hey! We’ll take it. It looks cool . . .

Now, as far as I’m concerned, the next scene is the most important scene in the episode. Rick awakens to find himself alone in the tent. He looks at Carl’s bed and find – gasp! – clean, folded clothes! He must thinking, as am I, How the hell do these people keep their clothes looking so good??

Rick leaves the tent to find Carol (Melissa Suzanne McBride) ironing his clothes. She tells him she’s been cleaning clothes using a washboard (still available in the 21st century from Sears!). She admits that it’s not quite as good as her Maytag, but it gets the job done. I, for one, am so relieved!!

Rick finds Laurie and starts to broach the subject of going back to Atlanta to rescue Merle. Just as she’s asking if he’s nuts, they hear Carl screaming for help. The group runs toward Carl and into the woods where they find . . . a zombie enjoying a tasty meal of deer.

Now, every episode in this series has its eeww-gross moment, and here’s this one’s. The zombie decides he’d rather eat people than deer and turns to attack his visitors. They begin beating and clubbing him, and Dale finally cuts his head off.

Then Daryl shows up, carrying a crossbow. Clearly under the influence of too much testosterone and not enough IQ, he complains about losing the deer but brags about bagging some squirrels. Oh, and the zombie’s severed head? Yeah, it’s still animated, snapping it’s jaws. Daryl shows them how it’s done and shoots an arrow into the head’s eye. Booyah!

Daryl rolls into camp and starts calling for Merle. When it’s explained that Merle was left behind in Atlanta, handcuffed on a roof atop a department store chock-full of the undead, Daryl expresses his displeasure by attacking Rick. Scuffle scuffle, chokehold, appeal to reason, etc. You know the drill.

Rick announces that he’s going back for Merle, and taking Daryl with him. He also enlists Glenn’s help, since Glenn knows the area. And T-Dog wants to go because, even though Merle isn’t his BFF, he’s the one who dropped the handcuff down the drain. What’d I say earlier about guilt and plot, hmmmm?

Lori and Shane, though, are not happy about this, for different reasons. Lori just got her man back; Shane just got another trained cop who can help protect the group. Both suggest it’s a bad idea to go.

But Rick has two other motives for returning. Remember the bag of weapons he dropped by the tank in the first episode? He figures the group needs those guns more than ever. The fact that they’re also bringing back a homicidal racist on the same return trip with a big bag of guns doesn’t occur to them.

Also in that bag: The walkie talkie he would use to communicate with Morgan, the man who nursed him back to health in the first episode. Morgan was going to meet Rick in Atlanta, and Rick needs to warn him off so he doesn’t wander into a trap.

Rick doesn’t want to take weapons into Atlanta, fearing that gunfire will only attract more zombies than it will kill. But Shane insists Rick take at least one weapon, for which he only has four bullets.

"Four men, four rounds," Shane intones. "What are the odds, huh?"

Off Rick, Glen, Daryl and T-Dog go, back toward Atlanta.

Next, we see Shane and Carl playing in the water at a nearby pond. True to his word, Shane’s teaching Carl to hunt frogs, though it’s really just an excuse to splash around. Nearby, a group of women, including Carol, are washboarding clothes and complaining about how little work the men seem to do.

Lori comes down looking for Carl, and here’s where we get the big confrontation scene between her and Shane. She sends Carl back into camp, and when Shane starts to talk about Rick’s return, she rebuffs him. She tells him he’s not to talk to Carl again, and berates Shane for telling her that Rick was dead. We’re left with the impression that Shane convinced her that he’d seen Rick dead, though that’s not clear. We know this: Lori and Shane are history, and Shane’s humiliated.

Carol’s husband, Ed (Adam Minarovich), wanders over to

the group of washing women. He’s just one step up the evolutionary ladder from Merle, and orders the women to quit having fun and get back to work. Danders are raised all around, and the four women end up crowding him, accusing him of beating Carol. As if to prove their point, he smacks Carol.

Shane rushes over and attacks Ed, beating his face to a bloody pulp, and threatening even more if he hurts Carol again. Of course, we know who Shane’s really pulverizing, don’t we?

Speaking of Rick, he and his band of merry travelers reach Atlanta, park the car and hoof it to the department store. They need to dispatch only one zombie, a female found wandering in the Misses’ Casual section. Daryl does the honors with his crossbow.

The group makes its way up the staircase without meeting any more zombies. They use bolt cutters borrowed from Dale to cut the padlock and scramble onto the roof. There’s only one problem – Merle is not there.

However, a hacksaw, a bloody handcuff and Merle’s severed hand are there.

Fade to the blackest of blacks.

Although the gore factor was at a minimum this time, this was one of the best episodes so far. The Walking Dead’s characters are very well done. It’s easy to see why this show has been renewed for another season. [Ed. note: Even if we have to wait nearly a year for it to return…]